Grimi calls on Sporting to scale heights

Gritty performance
The signing of the 23-year-old Argentinian has proved a shrewd piece of business by Paulo Bento, Grimi adding skill and steel to a defensive line that has conceded just once in five UEFA Cup games since parachuting into the competition from the UEFA Champions League. The latest clean sheet came in last week's quarter-final first leg at Ibrox – a gritty performance which made Grimi proud. "We knew it would be tough in Glasgow but worked hard to get an important result," he said.

Call for calm
"They're a difficult team to play against as Rangers always play well at home," continued Grimi, who spent the first half of the season playing in Tuscany for AC Siena. "Still, it was a draw so nothing is decided yet. We still have to work hard to make sure we get through to the next stage. We have to continue doing everything we've been doing of late; staying calm, refusing to panic and waiting for things to happen. Both teams have to score, but we don't know whether it will be a tight or open game. We're just concentrating on ourselves."

'Tough and rough'
There will be a change to the Sporting defence as Anderson Polga misses out with a thigh strain sustained against SC Braga on Sunday – the Lions' third successive Liga victory. Gladstone is expected to deputise, and Grimi is confident the young Brazilian "will make up for the absence of Polga" against opponents he described as "rough and tough". Grimi's countryman Lionel Messi accused Rangers of playing "anti-football" in a goalless UEFA Champions League draw earlier in the season, something the Sporting man dismissed: "Because of the way Messi plays he has a lot to complain about no matter what team he's up against. I just hope it will be a good, fair match from both teams."